Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Liquidity and Uncertainties [Abstract]

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. The Company bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and various other assumptions that it believes are reasonable under the circumstances. The amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses reported for each of the periods presented are affected by estimates and assumptions. As future events and their effects cannot be determined with precision, actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Basis of Consolidation

Basis of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value Measurements

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 825, Financial Instruments, disclosures of fair value information about financial instruments is required, whether or not recognized in the consolidated balance sheet, for which it is practicable to estimate that value. The Company’s financial instruments recorded in the consolidated balance sheets include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, investment securities, accounts payable and accrued expenses. The carrying value of certain financial instruments, primarily cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued expenses approximate their estimated fair values based upon the short-term nature of their maturity dates.

The Company categorizes its financial instruments into a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure fair value fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the category level is based on the lowest priority level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the instrument. Financial assets recorded at fair value on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets are categorized as follows:

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Level 1 inputs—Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

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Level 2 inputs— Significant other observable inputs (e.g., quoted prices for similar items in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar items in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable such as interest rate and yield curves, and market-corroborated inputs).

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Level 3 inputs—Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability, which are supported by little or no market activity and are valued based on management’s estimates of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

The following table provides the carrying value and fair value of the Company’s financial assets measured at fair value on a reoccurring basis as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

	Carrying Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
March 31, 2024:
Money Market Funds and Cash Equivalents	$	28,343,324	$	28,343,324	$	-	$	-
U.S. Government Agency Securities		20,689,982		20,689,982		-		-
Commercial Paper		2,681,007		-		2,681,007		-
Subtotal		23,370,989		20,689,982		2,681,007	$	-
Total March 31, 2024	$	51,714,313	$	49,033,306	$	2,681,007	$	-
December 31, 2023:
Money Market Funds and Cash Equivalents	$	32,541,230	$	32,541,230	$	-	$	-
U.S. Government Agency Securities		29,712,183		29,712,183		-		-
Commercial Paper		2,675,947		-		2,675,947		-
Subtotal		32,388,130		29,712,183		2,675,947		-
Total December 31, 2023	$	64,929,360	$	62,253,413	$	2,675,947	$	-

License Agreement

License Agreement

The Company’s rights under the License and Assignment Agreement with ND Partners, LLP are capitalized and stated at cost and will amortize using the straight-line method over estimated economic life of the intangible asset. The Company will amortize the intangible asset over its useful life, based on its assessment of various factors impacting estimated useful lives and cash flows of the acquired rights. Such factors include the launch date of DefenCath, the strength of the intellectual property protection of DefenCath and various other competitive, developmental and regulatory considerations, and contractual terms. See Note 4 – Commitments and Contingencies for further discussion.

Loss Per Common Share

Loss Per Common Share

Basic loss per common share excludes dilution and is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. The weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period included 2,500,625 shares underlying outstanding pre-funded warrants. Diluted net loss per common share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the Company.

The Company’s outstanding shares of Series E preferred stock entitle the holders to receive dividends on a basis equivalent to the dividends paid to holders of common stock. As a result, the Series E preferred stock meet the definition of participating securities requiring the application of the two-class method. Under the two-class method, earnings available to common shareholders, including both distributed and undistributed earnings, are allocated to each class of common stock and participating securities according to dividends declared and participating rights in undistributed earnings, which may cause diluted earnings per share to be more dilutive than the calculation using the treasury stock method. No loss has been allocated to these participating securities since they do not have contractual obligations that require participation in the Company’s losses.

Since the Company has only incurred losses, potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share because their effect would be anti-dilutive, and therefore basic and diluted loss per share are the same for all periods presented. The shares outstanding at the end of the respective periods presented below were excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share due to their anti-dilutive effect:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024		2023
	(Number of Shares of Common Stock Issuable)
Series C-3 non-voting preferred stock		4,000		4,000
Series E non-voting preferred stock		391,953		391,953
Series G non-voting preferred stock		5,004,069		5,004,069
Shares issuable for payment of deferred board compensation		48,909		48,909
Shares underlying outstanding stock options		7,996,361		6,126,080
Shares underlying restricted stock units		366,235		207,469
Total potentially dilutive shares		13,811,527		11,782,480

Research and Development

Research and Development

Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred. Research and development include fees associated with operational consultants, contract clinical research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, clinical site fees, contract laboratory research organizations, contract central testing laboratories, licensing activities, and allocated executive, human resources and facilities expenses. The Company accrues for costs incurred as the services are being provided by monitoring the status of the trial and the invoices received from its external service providers. As actual costs become known, the Company adjusts its accruals in the period when actual costs become known. Costs related to the acquisition of technology rights and patents for which development work is still in process are charged to operations as incurred and considered a component of research and development expense.